Monday, September 19, 2011

I feel like my writing has sort of tapered off. The quality isn't there like it used to be. Does anyone else get that feeling?
Is it a case of the writer necrotic brain explosion?

It's hard to tell.

I've been writing a lot of first drafts.

A lot.

But I haven't revised anything in a while.

Revision is where the book really starts to shine. It's like finding a rock in the mud and washing away the grim until you find something that's not quite a diamond but not nearly as muddy and gross as it was a few minutes ago.

Revision is a LONG process for me. I normally put MONTHS between myself and the first draft. Sometime even years.

I like to stay as objective as possible. I like to look at my writing as if a stranger wrote it, that way I can kill my babies.

But obviously I'm not good at it. No System At All took 16 drafts. YIKES.
In an effort to be slightly more effective I'm taking a writing course on revision. It's a whole new experaince for me. The last writing course I took was novel writing for adults. It was a community college course, which was fine, but I could have used a higher level course.

This is at a writing center. It's for serious writers. Writers who one day will be authors.

I'll let you know how it goes.

In other news I'm getting close to my two year blog birthday. I'd like to push my followers to 200.

The down side is since I can only access blogs through google reader, I can't comment on anyone else's blog. Which makes me feel like I'm cheating on you. Sorry.

Pam Harris is a school counselor by day and YA writer by night.
She is a contributor to Paper Hangover and is represented by the lovely
Sarah LaPolla at Curtis Brown, Ltd. You can learn more about her on her blog and on Twitter.

Holly Dodson is Super Mom, YA writer, and eater of many
Sweettarts. She is a contributor to Paper Hangover. You can learn more
about her on her blog and on Twitter.

Marquita Hockaday is 20-something, constantly reading or writing
YA, throwing in time to teach history to our youth (saving them
essentially) while stalking the finest literary agents and Hollywood
actors. You can learn more about her on her blog and on Twitter.

Alicia Gregoire writes edgy YA fiction while combating the machinations of her two cats. You can learn more about her on her blog and on Twitter.

Katharine Owens is a YA and MG writer, mom, professor,
environmental nerd, amateur naturalist, and lover of all things bug. You
can learn more about her on her blog and on Twitter.

Erinn Manack is a YA writer, middle school teacher, and a
contributor to The Patch. She’s written five books but has beta read
many more. You can learn more about her on her blog and on Twitter.